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Belgian rail services hit by strike

Xinhua, May 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

Around a third of rail traffic in Belgium was disrupted on Thursday morning following a strike action by train drivers.

The strike, by the SACT-ASTB union, is set to continue until 3 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) on Friday.

The union represents a third of Belgium's 3,800 train drivers who are striking for better pay and a change in salary scale after 12 years of service, rather than the current 18 years.

According to a spokeswoman for national rail company SNCB, Frieke Neyrinck, about two-thirds of trains are running, with no pickets or blockages at stations.

However, SNCB believes the situation is likely to change during the day, Flemish newspaper De Standaard reported.

So far, the Walloon region has been the most affected, with disruptions in service to Mons, Charleroi, and Namur. According to rail infrastructure management company, Infrabel, roughly 40 percent of trains are operating on the Brussels-Liege and Brussels-Namur-Luxembourg lines, while around 80 percent of services are running on the Brussels-Antwerp line.

The line between Hasselt and Leuven has been the most affected, with only 10 percent of services running. Endit